Battle of Hyuga Fields

The Battle of Hyuga Fields (January 1864) was the first major battle of the Boshin War in Kyushu, taking place in Hyuga Province of eastern Kyushu. An army of Nobeoka Domain troops was shattered as they tried to defeat a weaker Satsuma Domain army that was suffering from winter attrition, and Satsuma general Saigo Takamori proved himself in this victory.

Background
The Satsuma Domain (Shimazu clan) was historically opposed to the Tokugawa clan, ever since Yoshihiro Shimazu fought against Ieyasu Tokugawa at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Although Shimazu was given a fief in southern Kyushu for refusing to lead an attack during the battle, his clan remained opposed to the Tokugawa Shogunate for many years. In 1864, they rallied to the Emperor's cause when the land was divided between Imperial and Shogunate factions during the Boshin War. Although they had been defeated by the British in the 1863 Bombardment of Kagoshima in return for their xenophobia, the Satsuma eventually opened up to foreign trade, and British adviser Seth Patrick helped in training the Satsuma Army. When war broke out across Japan's alliances in 1864, the new Satsuma army prepared to deliver a fatal blow to the shogunate by destroying their two footholds in Kyushu: the Nobeoka Domain and the Oka Domain.

Led by General Saigo Takamori, an army of 8,800 Satsuma troops invaded Hyuga Province, home of the Nobeoka Domain (Naito clan). The Nobeoka were considerably weaker, but the Satsuma suffered from winter attrition while on hostile territory in the winter of early 1864. The Satsuma army encamped in the middle of the province after a long march, and decided to recover from their exhaustion (although frostbite would strike the poor soldiers). Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to destroy the Satsuma, Nobeoka daimyo Naito Munefusa and an army of 8,850 troops attacked the Satsuma in the cold snow.

Battle
The Satsuma Army had the advantage of defending, as Saigo was a defensive general. He arranged his riflemen in front of his sword and spear infantry, who would rush up to the front of the riflemen if the enemy charged them. The Nobeoka army was larger than the Satsuma and well-fed, but Naito Munefusa was more of a daimyo than a general. The Nobeoka made a mistake in focusing all of their units on the Satsuma left flank, allowing Saigo Takamori to maneuver his troops on the right flank towards the left. The Satsuma fired on the Nobeoka army from two sides, with their riflemen reloading quickly and delivering more volleys to cripple their enemies. Munefusa fled the battlefield after a few of his aides were struck down by bullets, and the Satsuma were able to eradicate enemy resistance. 8,420 Nobeoka Domain troops were lost, while only 2,760 Satsuma troops were killed or wounded. Munefusa was forced to retreat, and although the Satsuma soon suffered more losses due to attrition, they scored a decisive victory over the Nobeoka and marched on the capital of Saito.